The Billionaire's Ballet: A Contemporary Billionaire Friends to Lovers Romance (Friends with Benefits) (14 page)

His kiss was soft and gentle, a caress.

My hand gripped his arm and another tear rolled down my cheek. What was this we were feeling?

I clutched him, leaning in, wanting to feel passion, wanting this to be more than a reaction to the opera. I needed this feeling to be real. To take me over.

But Bennett pulled away. “We do get overcome by music, don’t we?” he said quietly. His hand rested against the braids in my hair.

He was right.

The party was
Black Swan
.

The waltz was “Dreamcatcher.”

And now
La Traviata
.

“It’s powerful stuff,” I said. I let go of him and leaned away.

“I’ll let you have this room,” he said. “I’ll head downstairs. Just call the Executive Suite if you need me.”

The bed shifted as his weight left it. He scooped up his shoes and pointed to my ankle. “Don’t walk on that,” he said. “I mean it.” He gave me a wicked grin. “I’ll carry you to the toilet if I have to.”

This made me smile, even though inside I was still roiling from the kiss and his withdrawal.

“As friends, right?”

He nodded. “As friends.”

And with a quick wave, he was gone.

Chapter 16

I drove Mother’s aging Taurus to the medical center Monday morning, my guts churning for a million reasons.

For one, we would get the results of the PET scans to see if the cancer had responded to her treatments.

Second, Quinn should be back soon. By tomorrow, certainly. I wasn’t sure how I would feel when I saw him.

But also, I hadn’t seen Bennett since yesterday morning. We had landed the helicopter in a small airstrip south of San Antonio this time and driven back to the estate. My ankle was doing fine, although I had only done stretches and floor work since the fall, just in case.

“You’re quiet,” Mom said. “You going to tell me what happened Saturday night or is it one of those things you can’t tell your mother?”

I had avoided the topic the previous day, but now we were trapped in a car together.

“Bennett flew me to Dallas. We saw an exhibit of ballet sculptures. Which were amazing.” I gripped the steering wheel. “It was late, so he booked a couple rooms in a nearby hotel and we flew back in the morning. That’s it!”

“That’s it,” she said. Her fingers felt along the edge of her head scarf to make sure it was straight. “You sure have been quiet.”

I reached out and squeezed her wrist. “I’ve been worried about today.”

Mom waved her hand as if to swat away my concern. “I’m right as rain. You’ll see. My hair is already coming back.” She lifted part of the scarf to show me the fuzz on her head. “I just might join your dance company and steal your parts.”

I smiled. “You do that. I could use a break.”

“This IS your break!”

“Oh, right.”

She shifted her purse on her lap. “But really, what is going on with you and Bennett? I left you waltzing together last week, and then you end up in Dallas.”

“He just wanted me to see those sculptures. I didn’t even know they were in Dallas until he showed up with a helicopter.”

“That’s quite a date.”

“It wasn’t a date.”

“Really? Flying to another city and spending the night isn’t a date?”

I sighed. “I told you. We had separate rooms.”

“Is this still about Quinn?”

We arrived at a red light. I didn’t know what to say about that. “I don’t think so. I don’t know. It’s so mixed up.”

Mom reached over to me this time. “I think you’re figuring it out. Bennett is a solid young man. There is so much more to him than most people get to see.”

“Did you know his fiancée?”

Mother’s face darkened. “Of course. She wasn’t worth his time.”

“What happened?”

“I’m not sure that it is my story to tell. As much as I want to.” She sat back in her seat, hands on her purse. “You can ask your precious Quinn about it.”

“What does he have to do with it?”

But Mother just looked out the window.

We arrived at the clinic and parked in the lot.

The staff was friendly and greeted Mother by name. We were ushered to a quiet waiting room.

Mom fidgeted with her purse, and I knew she was anxious. I could feel the steady drumbeat of my pulse in my throat.

When they called her name, she stood up and turned to me. “I know you want to be there. I know you do. But I would like to do this part of my journey on my own. Is that okay?”

I settled back on the chair. “Of course, Mom.” I hadn’t been with her for her diagnosis, or the chemotherapy. My mouth went dry. Maybe I didn’t deserve to be here for this either.

She went back with the nurse. I flipped idly through a fashion magazine, emotions skittering around. Grief that she hadn’t wanted me back there. Anger that she hadn’t told me about her illness from the beginning. Annoyance at myself for not somehow knowing. Dismay that I hadn’t contacted Amelia or someone close to find out what was going on.

We were both fiercely independent, I realized. I got this streak from her. A dancer had to be determined and strong. Once more I wished she had gotten her shot on the stage.

Stupid flamenco dancer.

The wait was interminably long. Patients came and went, some with hair, some without. Some with family, others with nursing aides. A few alone.

Mom had been one of those.

I was startled when Bennett entered through the door and sat in one corner. I waved at him. He didn’t see me right away. Then he got up and moved to a chair next to me. He looked like he’d come straight out of a men’s designer-suit catalog in a charcoal suit with a deep purple tie.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. I wondered wildly if he were also sick. If this was why he knew about the doctor.

“I’m usually here,” he said. “I thought you’d be going to the room with her, so I delayed so I could get the news from you both.”

“You—you’ve been here before?” I stammered.

“Not every time. But when Amelia couldn’t make it.”

“You?”

He smiled. “Yes, Juliet.”

“But—you’re busy!”

He sat back and crossed one ankle over his knee. “We’re all busy. Your mother’s busy getting well.”

The door opened and Mother came out along with a male doctor in a white shirt and tie.

“Cancer free!” she said and leaned down to hug me. “Everything’s clear!”

She let me go to wrap her arms around Bennett, who had stood up to greet her. “I’ll be back to full dance power soon,” she said.

“About time,” he said. “We need to start the tango before I embarrass myself at a party.”

Mother pressed her palms into both of his cheeks. “You’d never embarrass yourself anywhere.”

The doctor shook Bennett’s hand. “We’ll have her back in three months for a follow-up,” he said. “But everything came back looking good.” He waved and headed back through the door.

“Thank you for coming, Bennett,” Mother said.

“I wouldn’t have missed this,” he said. He nodded to me. “Back to the salt mines. Nice talking to you again, Juliet.”

Then he was gone.

“I’m glad he came,” Mother said.

I turned to her. “He brought you to chemo?”

She threaded her arm through mine to lead me toward the door. “A couple of times. Amelia came to two. My friend Bonnie to one. And Bennett, when he found out I had no one to bring me to a couple of them. I asked Adams to get me a taxi and the old coot tattled on me.”

“Mom, I could have come.”

We had just passed through the doors to the outside, and she stopped walking. “No, Juliet. That was not what I wanted. One of the greatest strengths I had when I started going through this was knowing you were out there dancing and living that dream. It was a powerful comfort.”

There was no point arguing this, as it was over now. I opened her door. “I’m glad I got to be here for this,” I said.

She sat on the seat and looked up at me, the scarf a bright spot of color against the dull interior. “I am too.”

We sang goofy folk songs the entire way back to the estate. I parked over by the barn in the staff spots. Mom didn’t need any help walking back to her house. The good report put some extra spring in her step.

Amelia spotted us through the gate and hurried out, hugging and kissing Mother at the news and dabbing her eyes with her dish towel.

We headed down the path to our house, but both stopped when we saw it.

The doorway was surrounded with flowers. Daisies, roses, carnations, baby’s breath in a dozen lovely pastels.

A pretty wicker basket sat in front of the door. A card on the top read “For two strong beautiful dancers.”

“Bring that inside,” Mom said, gazing up at the arch of blooms. “That Bennett has outdone himself.”

I picked up the heavy basket and set it on the dining table inside. Mom unlatched the top and peered inside. “Oooh,” she said as she unpacked. “That boy pays attention.”

Inside were a number of gourmet foods. Dark chocolates, tiny wedges of fancy cheeses, fresh dark-green salads with hand-whisked dressings in clever little plastic shakers with chilled metal bases.

There were crystal glasses and bottles of antioxidant-rich pressed juice.

In a little white box was a breathtakingly lovely pale yellow scarf. A note on top said, “The last scarf.” I recognized Bennett’s handwriting.

Mom was right. I hadn’t known him at all.

Chapter 17

When Mom was fed and resting, I threw on a leotard and Crocs and snatched up my toe shoes. I would try some gentle foot work today and make sure my ankle was really okay.

But as I headed to the dance studio, I found myself walking alongside the wall to the back gate. When I should have turned down the path, instead I slipped inside the estate grounds.

The patio was quiet. I walked slowly, wondering if I dared knock on the back door. Or maybe I could go around to the front and ring the bell.

I could also head to the kitchen door, where Amelia would let me in.

But I didn’t want Amelia.

I stood by an outdoor table, uncertain. This was crazy. It was midafternoon on a Monday. Bennett wasn’t here. Quinn wasn’t here.

I was being ridiculous.

But the back door opened. Adams came outside, sharp and austere in his black pants and dark-gray shirt. “Miss Juliet,” he said. “Mr. Bennett is expecting you.”

“He is?”

“I’ll take you to his office.”

I followed the butler with his efficient stride. His hair, what little there was, was black and peppered with gray.

We passed through the back room, under the stairs, across the foyer, through a formal front room, and paused in front of a tall pair of ornate wood doors. I had never been in this part of the mansion.

Adams rapped sharply. When Bennett called out, “Come in,” Adams opened the door for me.

“Have a good day,” he said.

I clutched my toe shoes against my chest as I entered the room. Floor-to-ceiling shelves were lined with books. Bennett stood behind an enormous desk, easily as big as a dining room table set for eight.

The door closed behind us.

He looked different here, formal in his suit, surrounded by computer screens, ledgers, fancy pens, rich leather, and ornate wood.

“I feel like I’m in
The
Godfather
and I’ve interrupted your daughter’s wedding with business,” I said.

Bennett laughed, and the relaxed expression revealed his dimple. Some of the tension left my body, and I could breathe again.

“I’ve been told I’m intimidating in here,” he said. He came around the desk. “Let me get somewhere less imposing.”

We sat on a chilly leather sofa, cooled by the air-conditioning blowing overhead. I kept looking around at the maps, the odd trinkets on the shelves picked up from travels. “Was this your father’s office?”

“Yes,” Bennett said. “I’ve never really changed it. It could probably use an overhaul.”

I fiddled with my shoes on my lap. “You knew I was coming?”

“I guessed. Did your mother enjoy the lunch?”

I had trouble meeting his gaze, sitting so close to him. I couldn’t help thinking about that night on the gold bed with
La Traviata
playing on the screen. “She did. The scarf — well, that was a lovely touch.”

“May she never need one again,” he said.

He grinned at me, and I was struck by how much more handsome he looked when he smiled, not so austere and chiseled. More real.

“I don’t want to take your time,” I said. “I really did want to thank you. Not just for the lunch and the flowers.” I hesitated. “But for being there when I wasn’t.”

Bennett’s eyes pierced me, not cold, but with knowing. I had wanted to be there. And I had not been given that chance.

“How about this,” he said. “Now that we are better acquainted, I’ll make sure you’re kept in the loop. She has more checkups. If she doesn’t let you know how things are going, I can keep you from worrying.”

“Okay,” I said. “Thank you.”

“Just know she did it from her heart. She wanted you to be worry free.”

“I know.”

“She’s a good mom.”

“She is.”

We sat there a little longer, and I said, “Well, I’m keeping you from your work.” I held up the shoes. “I’m going to test my ankle out, just a little.”

His face grew concerned. “You sure you don’t want someone to come out and look at it?”

“I’ve been walking fine, and it’s still wrapped. I’ve been through this before. I know the routine.”

He nodded. “Okay. Buzz me if you need help. There’s an intercom there that links to Adams.”

“I remember. Quinn and I used to —” I faltered. “I’ve used it before.”

Bennett still watched me, his eyes more intense now.

I was totally unprepared for what he said next.

“I wish I were my brother,” he said.

“What?” I asked.

Now he looked away, eyes following the rows of books on the wall. “I’ve always disparaged my brother for his lack of direction, his inability to mature. But today I wish I were him. I can only hope he will grow up enough to deserve you.”

My heart squeezed so tight, it felt like it had stopped.

Bennett stood up. “He’ll be back tomorrow. The company plane is fetching him.” He moved behind his desk, straightening papers. “I hear he is excellent company. Very fun. There will never be a dull moment.”